Front Row Seat: Manny Machado reaches 2000 hits
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Darren Smith
San Diego Padres
Machado in Hall of Fame company in reaching 2,000 hits - Padres.com
The Padres’ star third baseman became the fifth active player to reach 2,000 hits with his fourth-inning single off D-backs righty Zac Gallen on Monday night during a 6-3 loss in the series opener at Petco Park.
Machado – who also laced a first-inning single for hit No. 1,999, then launched an eighth-inning home run for No. 2,001 – joins Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Andrew McCutchen and Paul Goldschmidt as the only active players with 2,000 hits.
Can Machado reach 3,000 hits, 500 HRs? His pace looks good - Padres.com
Machado hit his 357th home run as hit No. 2,001 on Monday night against Arizona. That leaves him needing just over 17 per season for the rest of his Padres tenure to reach 500. Presently, Machado is reliably mashing 30 taters per season in San Diego. Even if his power production tails off, he should be on pace to reach that number.
Padres notes: Michael King set for ‘bullpen,’ gaining momentum - San Diego Union-Tribune
King played catch from 90 feet on Monday afternoon, will push to 120 feet in a heavier workload on Tuesday and on Thursday will throw off the mound for the first time since he hit the injured list May 25 with the issue with his long thoracic nerve.
The team, King said, is not calling it an official bullpen — more of a “touch and feel” session — but the step is clear momentum after waiting for weeks for his nerve to fire again.
Darvish puts injury behind him with 63-pitch season debut - Padres.com
Darvish pitched 3 2/3 innings in the Padres’ 6-3 series-opening loss to the Diamondbacks, striking out five while allowing two runs on three hits and three walks. He was always going to be on a limited pitch count and found himself in quite a few high-stress situations early. As such, Darvish was removed after 63 pitches.
Degree Of Difficulty - Letters to A.J.
So while it’s true that Merrill, Tatis, and Arraez finding their previous form could provide a groundswell of offense (more than enough to close the gap), there just isn’t any lever to pull on to ensure that happens.
And that leaves one avenue to address the team’s greatest needs. Trade. The deadline is ~three weeks away. And there’s no way the above uncertainty will be reconciled by then. But there also isn’t a coherent argument that the Padres should be sellers. There is indeed uncertainty about their outlook on both the offensive and run prevention sides. But that uncertainty is bidirectional. And the roadmap for contention is clear. Improve the offense, maintain the run prevention. That’s not a path that requires trading away the farm.
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